There are a galaxy's worth of metal bands active today. But stare at all of those stars long enough and some lines start to
form; everything starts to take shape. The Constellations begin to bloom.
Just two years ago, Lancaster, PA's AUGUST BURNS RED were, to the naked eye, just another young band jockeying for position in the modern metal scene. Then came Messengers, the band's 2007 full-length release for Solid State Records, and a new frontrunner emerged. Without hype, devoid of any smoke and mirrors, the album debuted at #81 on the Billboard charts, going on to ever-so-quietly sell more than 80,000 copies. Fueled only by the honesty and dynamism of the music, fans multiplied exponentially, driving ABR's MySpace plays well past the 17 million mark and flocking to the band's 2008 headlining tour – which included sold-out venues across the country.
Meanwhile, AUGUST BURNS RED kept their heads down, conquering fans at Warped Tour, on the Take Action tour and at destinations from Dubai to Dallas, and increased their profile through placement of their beloved take on "Carol of the Bells" on the movie trailer for "The Spirit." The band also packed up their Phillies T-shirts and ever-present flip-flops and headed overseas for a tour of 12 countries throughout the UK and Europe. The star was shining bright. "It's extremely encouraging to see your band growing," says guitarist and primary songwriter JB Brubaker with characteristic modesty. "It helps keep you motivated and forces you to set the bar higher so that you can continue to grow and put out the best music you're capable of writing."
To that end – the band returned to the studio this past February to record its hotly anticipated follow-up with lauded producer Jason Suecof (SEVENDUST, ALL THAT REMAINS, TRIVIUM). Fans flocked to the band's in-studio Stickam site by the tens of thousands to observe the band recording the album in real time. The result was Constellations, the third full-length offering from AUGUST BURNS RED, set for release on July 14. A crushing metal tour de force, the album pushes ABR's trademark aural blitz into directions previously unexplored by the band. "We spread our creative wings a bit on Constellations," says JB. "But I can say for sure that this record will definitely be as unrelenting as our previous ones." Accenting the blistering guitar work and syncopated breakdowns that AUGUST BURNS RED fans have grown to love are dynamics previously unexplored by the band. Constellations features more diverse tempos and cohesive song compositions than on previous ABR records, as well as the band's maiden voyage to the land of guitar solos.
"We've managed to push ourselves as musicians, as lyricists and performers," says drummer Matt Greiner. "As a whole, I feel like we're expanding, reinterpreting and refining our sound." That kind of sonic wanderlust has pushed AUGUST BURNS RED since the members first united in 2003 while still in high school. Armed with fearless innovation, uncanny technical ability and an innate near-classical songwriting style, the band started turning heads immediately upon the release of its 2005 Solid State debut, Thrill Seeker. The band's 2007 sleeper hit, Messengers, minted ABR as one of the pacesetters of the next generation of metal bands. The band has already proven to be the type that gets kids to put down Guitar Hero and pick up an actual guitar – look no further than the number of bands on MySpace that list ABR as an influence. With Constellations, that swelling army of fans will make sure that there's a racket from day one. "I am probably as excited for Constellations to come out as our most diehard fans," Brubaker exclaims. "I'd like to think there is something for everyone on the new album."
Already one of the year's most anticipated metal albums, Constellations will make good on the promise of the past two years, and will serve as proof-positive that AUGUST BURNS RED's success is no mere solar flare-up. This supernova's here to stay.

Fit For A King is a five-piece Metalcore outfit from Tyler, Texas. A driven attitude, creative minds and a "do it yourself" mentality has quickly set them apart among other bands on the independent circuit. Fit For A King is now touring full time in the U.S has been making a strong internet presence between the "MySpace era" and now. The band released their first full length record in September 2011 called "Descendants." Along with the album came the music video "Ancient Waters" which has broke out to 500,000 + view on YouTube. Fit For A King's Sophomore release will be out March 12, 2013, on Solid State Records. They will head out on tour with Oh, Sleeper following the release.

Album titles can be quite a dicey proposition. In a perfect world, the title should tell you something about what kind of action awaits inside the jewel box (or the album jacket). There's not much room for error when you pick up Slayer's Reign In Blood or Katy Perry's Teenage Dream; you pretty much know what you're getting into, either way. Which is why you should pay close attention to the title of the new album from modern metal mavericks Miss May I. The band may have recorded in a studio, but the title At Heart tells you everything you need to know about where those songs actually came from.
"I feel like there are a lot of ways for a metal band to sound played-out," offers Miss May I frontman Levi Benton. "One of the biggest ways is the whole 'hate' thing. It bums me out when I'm listening to a band I like and the lyrics are along the lines of 'I hate you.' They're doing what every other metal band in the world are doing by cheesing it up like that. On At Heart, we wrote about things personal to us. It wasn't like I was trying to write something that sounded 'cool' and ended up spending days on it. On these songs, I thought, 'This is something I've been through,' and could put the lyrics down in two hours. We're really proud of what we've done on At Heart—and we're proud of the trip we went through to get here."
Don't make the egregious mistake of thinking the boys of Miss May I turned into soft prima donnas. The band—Benton, guitarists Justin Aufdemkampe and B. J. Stead, bassist Ryan Neff and drummer Jerod Boyd—have been playing it lean and mean since their inception in Troy Ohio, four years ago. Since aligning themselves with respected underground label Rise Records for their 2009 debut, Apologies Are For The Week and 2010's head-swiveling Monument, MMI have always approached their creative process with light-speed. The band usually spent two weeks in the studio with producer Joey Sturgis to hammer out their pummeling metal, thanks to a grueling tour schedule that has them on the road 10 months out of the year. So while harried touring life made them a tight, furious unit, the band felt the itch to go even further as both players and people.
Enter Machine, the acclaimed producer who's worked with everyone from Lamb Of God (one of Benton's all-time faves) to Mindless Self Indulgence. The band holed up in his New Jersey studio for two months to make At Heart. While that time frame might sound positively luxurious, the producer spent a lot of time putting the band through their paces. Miss May I were ready to start laying down tracks immediately, but Machine demanded they spend two weeks on pre-production where he could listen to the songs they wrote and tear them apart as needed. Forget the computer enhancement prevalent in today's music scene: If the band members couldn't play the parts live, it wasn't going on the record. Not only did Machine make the band change their way of thinking regarding their instruments, he made a lot of non-negotiable demands on Benton.
"Sometimes he was really brutal with our songs, but it was worth it," the singer remembers. "We did the vocals on a hand-held mic to get that live-show feeling. His whole thing is feeling the song. 'What are the lyrics? I want to feel the lyrics!' He's all about selling the lyrics and that's all I concentrate on when I'm playing live. With Sturgis, he'd be like, 'Your voice is cracking, we're done for the day.' With Machine, he'd say, 'Go get a drink.' I'd be using the hand-held, and he'd be in his space, moshing around to what I was doing! 'Come on, it's like a show,' he'd say. And I think you can hear that on the record."
All that's missing is the stage diving and the moshing: Upon first listen, At Heart is the hallmark for a positively rejuvenated band. First single "Ballad Of A Broken Man" rip-saws any doubts Miss May I would go soft, crossover to the pop charts or (shudder) embrace dubstep. "Hey Mister" details life without a father figure, buttressed by clean melodic vocal verses, the six-stringed bite and Boyd's piston-pulsing drumming. "Hey, You Are Not Alone" offers a roaring sense of empowerment for youth who feel disenfranchised, replacing that sense of hopelessness with life-affirming rage. "We Lost Our Way" is as close to a power ballad the quintet ever get, starting with anthemic verses and acoustic guitars, only to finish off in high gear. "What A World It Is" sums up the whole Miss May I experience succinctly, where the power manifests itself with Aufdemkampe and Stead's dual-guitar dynamics, Neff's nimble figures entwined around Boyd's wicked kick-drums and Benton's acumen in delivering death-growls and vocals that practically guarantee the next stop on this journey is the stratosphere. Simply put, At Heart is a bona fide quantum leap for Miss May I.
"Working with Machine made us a better band," Benton readily acknowledges. "I just want to be in a long-haired, denim-jacket-wearing thrash band. We want to bring back denim jackets with no sleeves and back patches! Nobody is doing that anymore. We'll go on tour and everybody's got keyboards and dubstep parts in their music. I don't want to be one of those 'blueprint' bands that get stuck doing the same thing—the same breakdowns, touring with the same three bands—that works for everyone else."
Benton speaks with the confidence of a man whose convictions are carrying him through life. But you have to wonder why anybody would willingly put themselves through the kind of regimen Miss May I insist on giving audiences. In a world where listeners with a sense of entitlement routinely download music, and another bunch of pretenders with a quarter of the experience are willing to play the same old breakdowns Benton rails against, you have to wonder what is their motivation. Or you could refer back to the album title.
"It's not about a cash payoff as much as it is a sentimental one," says Benton, unflinchingly. "All of the things we dreamt about as little metalheads in the basement are coming true. We get to travel the world. Every day is a blessing. Material things like fast cars, big houses and expensive leather boots mean nothing. If there are a thousand kids that know my songs and I get to see them go nuts at a metal show? That's my reward."
Miss May I's At Heart. Because whether you're at the center of your emotional being or stepping lively in the biggest mosh pit you've ever entered, one thing is certain: There will be blood.